The Arrakanian Annexation
The Arrakanian Annexation, also known as the War of Arrakan Containment, was a war fought between the majority of the Ulthian League and their former member Arrakan. The war began in an attempt to contain Arrakan's growing military power, but Arrakan proved to have a much stronger military and easily defeated the Ulthian League. As a result of the Arrakan victory, their enemies were annexed and Arrakanium reformed itself into the Imperial State of Arrakan and the Ulthian League, otherwise known as the Arrakanium Empire. Prelude to War The first step towards this war was the rapid industrialization and militarization of Arrakan in preparation for a planned war against some of its neighbors in order to reclaim lost land. A major part of this preparation was the creation of the so-called "Army of the People". This army consisted of citizens from all walks of life being recruited and sometimes drafted. This presented a serious advantage for the Arrakans over the rest of the Ulthian League, as they merely had small professional armies. The northern states in the League were the first to notice what was happening in Arrakan and take concern, but with none of them being one of the major three members, they brought their concerns to the Emperor of the Ulthian League, the Isoriosian president. The Emperor agreed that something needed to be done, and was able to garner the support of the vast majority of the League for a war to contain Arrakan's eventual expansion. The members of the southwestern peninsula disagreed with the war, considering it suicide, and decided to stay neutral; these neutral states were Ruskai, the Republic of Wend, Trenzin, the Kingdom of Surdivostok, and Aliyvev A Brief War The war itself was, oddly enough, the shortest part of the whole affair. Isorios led the main army of the Ulthian League down towards Arrakan in order to meet them in what would hopefully be a single, decisive battle. Arrakan had been preparing to invade its neighbors for a while though and had quickly set into motion the great machine which was its plans for the war. A mass mobilization of millions of men using a well-developed railway system allowed the Arrakans to overwhelm the small defending forces in their immediate neighbors. From there defensive lines were set up to halt the Isoriosian army. Upon the arrival of the main force of the Ulthian League, the more prepared and modernized Arrakans slaughtered the attackers with a steady barrage of artillery from miles away, aided by aerial bombardments with airships. Though several armies still marched to converge on Arrakan, they all met similar fates. A few did end up breaking through the Arrakan defensive line where it was spread too thin, but the damage done to their armies was enough to cause capitulation. By the time fall came the entire mainland, save for Ainabla and a few other northern coastal states, had given in to Arrakan. One big, and major nation still persisted at this point, however. Ulthia had a large navy complete with heavily steel-plated ships, and unique amphibious assault crafts which were essentially versions of the armored ships that could partially beach themselves. An invasion was planned to happen on Arrakan's beaches at several locations under the cover of darkness, but that cover proved highly ineffective at disguising their presence. Most of Arrakan's army was still heading back from their defensive line in enemy territory, and so despite having lost the element of surprise they were able to maintain a landing ground in a few areas. These few invading armies were able to meet with each other and form a united front, but despite taking several towns and cities Arrakan's moral and reserve never seemed to dissipate. The reason for the unusual calmness about the Ulthain invasion was that Arrakan had been planning an offensive for nearly two months now. Once enacted, the offensive didn't happen nearly as quickly as the first offensive of the war, but it was not designed for speed. A unique property of Arrakan is that despite its small size, it was one of the few nations of the time to have great 'staying power', in other words, it could take a lot of damage and still stay in a fight. Ulthia, on the other hand, was much weaker and wouldn't prolong the struggle if they took enough casualties in a short period of time. Thus, Arrakan's offensive was designed to first flank, then envelop, and quickly kill off the Ulthian armies. Before the slaughter even truly began, Ulthia surrendered upon seeing their entire invasion force surrounded, and so ended The War of Arrakan Containment, otherwise known as The Arrakanian Annexation War. The Aftermath Following the war, Arrakan decided to do more than just reclaiming its lost territory as originally intended. With patriotic fervor at an all-time high in the nation, it was decided that they would be the new Ulthian Empire, and in order to prevent further wars being waged against them, they would enforce Arrakan law upon the Ulthian League members. Some of the states that had participated in the war actually overturned their own governments and welcomed joining Arrakan, now being called Arrakanium. The idea of creating a new Ulthian Empire was enticing to many, and a powerful piece of propaganda that made many (but not most) of the annexed populations welcome it. The annexation resulted in diaspora from the former states fleeing to Varenth and Dorminia, and some to the neutral states that remained free. The neutral states were surprisingly a less popular choice, as many considered them to be traitors to the rest of the League. Some governments also went into exile and joined the neutral states in continuing the Ulthian League. On the world stage, the Arrakanian Annexation War led most importantly to the Nico Incident and increased tensions on Varenth's eastern border. The Nico Incident was a brief even which resulted in Dorminia and the newly formed Arrakanium being brought to the brink of war over the invasion of an Ulthian League city in one of the neutral nations after the war. Though a peace was arranged between the two nations, the threat of war has not gone away. Arrakanium's equally large rival to the west is Varenth, and relations between the two are all but nonexistent. Ambassadors don't exist between the two countries, and Varenth refuses to acknowledge the formation of Arrakanium, still officially referring to the nation as Arrakan. Arrakan's territorial claims extend to the capital of Varenth itself, and Varenth has announced a guarantee of the Ulthian League's independence. Time will only tell if and when Dorminia or Varenth will find themselves at war with Arrakanium.